Buffalo Bills Mandating O-Lineman Wear Knee Braces

(AP) - Despite recovering from a severely broken leg, Buffalo Bills starting right guard Eric Wood had no intention of wearing any type of protective brace this season.Too bulky, awkward and restrictive, Wood complained after wearing them in college. "It's an extra pound or two on each leg," he said.
Turns out Wood has no say in the matter.
Under first-year coach Chan Gailey's orders, all 15 of the team's offensive linemen are required to wear a knee brace on each leg through training camp in a bid to prevent injuries. It's a practice Gailey and offensive line coach Joe D'Alessandris first began considering more than 20 years ago when they were together with Birmingham of the World League of American Football.
Gailey said he didn't start implementing the mandate until about 11 years ago. Though he knows of no statistical evidence that show knee braces prevent injuries, Gailey said he's seen too much visual proof to know they must help.
"I believe it because I know it, because I've seen it with my own eyes," he said. "I've seen bent knee braces come off the practice field and the guy's not hurt. So I know it works."
And it doesn't matter to Gailey that most players don't like wearing them.
"No, they don't like it, but I think they're smart enough to understand why," said Gailey, though he won't require players to wear them during games. "With all the injuries we've had around here, I think that they weren't quite as reluctant."
The knee-brace mandate is new to the Bills and uncommon throughout the NFL.
The Miami Dolphins are one team that has such a policy, which shouldn't come as a surprise because of Bill Parcells' presence as the team's Executive Vice President of Football Operations. Parcells instituted a similar knee-brace mandate as coach in Dallas last decade.
Bills center Geoff Hangartner wasn't a fan of the policy initially, and made sure to voice his thoughts to line coach Joe D'Alessandris. But he's come around.
"Joe knows there's a reluctance on some of our parts to wear them, but he believes in them," Hangartner said. "And as beat up as we were last year, if it prevents one injury, then it's worth the pain that it is to put them on every day."
Knee injuries took their toll on Buffalo's offensive linemen last season. Wood, starting left tackle Demetrius Bell, starting right tackle Brad Butler and backup tackle Seth McKinney all finished the season on injured reserve after hurting their knees or legs.
Bell, who was hurt in Week 10 last season, was already planning to wear a brace on his surgically repaired right knee. Now he's getting used to one on his left knee, as well.
"They feel funny, even in your stance," said Bell, who took part in full contact drills on Sunday for the first time this offseason. "But it'll help us out in the long run and I feel it's already helped us out, so I don't think it's a bad thing."
Offensive linemen are most susceptible to knee injuries because of the nature of their position. Aside from having to start from a crouched position, the players rely on their legs to get leverage in blocking defenders. There's also a bigger potential for offensive linemen to have their knees cut out from behind or from the side, as happened to Wood during an 18-15 loss at Jacksonville on Nov. 22.
Wood was blocking one defender near the line of scrimmage when Jaguars defensive tackle Montavious Stanley made a diving attempt to tackle quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Stanley got only a piece of the quarterback and landed directly on Wood's lower leg, bending it sideways, in an injury that was so gruesome that CBS elected against showing more than one replay.
Despite his reluctance to wear braces in practice, Wood said he's becoming accustomed to them and just might continue wearing them in games

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The Buffalo Bills Defeat Chicago Bears 27-20 in the second pre-season game of the year. The Bills played this game without the flamboyant Wide Receiver Terrell Owens who did not play because of a toe injury suffered in the Hall Of Fame Game against the Tennessee Titans. The Buffalo Bills had good performances from Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Gibran Hamdan at the quarterback position. Trent Edwards was 10/10 73 yards and had a deep pass down the sidelines to Lee Evans for 36 yards. Trent Edwards lead the team on a 16 play 60 yard drive that ended up with a Rian Lindell 28 yard field goal. Lee Evans finished the game with 3 rec. 54 yards. Ryan Fitzpatrick 13/16 146 yards and had a sterling performance completing passes all over the field . Ryan exploited the Bears secondary by throwing short passes to Tight End John Stupar and Roscoe Parrish and Justin Jenkins. John Stupar lead the with 6 rec. 56 yards and has been one of the surprise this of pre-season and could be the missing part to the Bills struggling offense inside the Red Zone. Ryan Fitzpatrick lead the Bills on a 8 play 37 yard drive after a Bears turnover which ended the first half with Rian Lindell 20 yard field goal. The Bills opened the second half with Ryan Fitzpatrick lead 10 play 75 yard drive which lasted 9:31. The Bills scored a touchdown Dominic Rhodes 3 yard run. This was the Bills first offensive touchdown this pre-season. The Bills got a early fourth quarter touchdown when Girban Hamdan threw a 3 yard pass to rookie Shawn Nelson after a Ellis Lankster interception. The Bills cap off the game with another touchdown with a Bruce Hall 4 yard run after another Ellis Lankster interception. The Bills first string defense has a excellent game stopping Jay Cutler on his first three possessions. The Bills also, got a turnover on a Leodis McKelvin interception of Jay Cutler. Cutler almost threw another interception but it was dropped by Reggie Corner. The Bills pass rush was solid and it was lead by second year veteran Chris Ellis who had a sack and a fumble recovery after a Copeland Bryan sack. The star of the game was rookie Cornerback Ellis Lankster who had two interceptions which lead to two Bills touchdowns. Lankster might be a huge find for the Bills because they drafted him in the seventh round. Lankster has been a stand out all throughout training camp and first two pre-season games. Finally, the Bills offense ended the game with 375 yards of total offense and 3 turnovers. The Bills Defense had a excellent game giving up only 225 yards and getting 5 turnovers. The Bills lead the time of possession 38:00-22:00 for the Bears. The Bills next preseason game is against the Green Bay Packers next Saturday night.